Going out this weekend? Be prepared and bring rain gear

Festival goers be warned, do not let Friday’s sunny spell fool you, this weekend is going to be a wet one.

The weather is expected to be particularly poor this Sunday and Monday, and those heading out to enjoy the bank holiday have been warned to bring their rain gear.

Today has been a mixed bag across the country, with some parts reporting heavy showers while others have enjoyed good sunny spells all day. Highest temperatures will range between 11 to 13 degrees, with moderate to occasionally gusty north-westerly winds.

Met Eireann, however, are forecasting “a very wet” Saturday night and said that they expect this to continue through until Tuesday morning.

Music fans going to Slane Castle for the Foo Fighters concert tomorrow evening should wrap up as temperatures will hover around 11 degrees. The heaviest rain is forecast for the end of the concert, between 9pm and 12am.

Saturday will start off dry and mild with sunshine in the east but rain will spread across the country by evening.

Sunday will be a cool day, with isolated showers expected in the morning. By midday these will have spread further, mostly thanks to a moderate westerly wind, and by the afternoon they will have turned heavy.

Monday will be wet and windy with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. Again, it will be cool for this time of year with highest temperatures of just 10 to 13 degrees.

The rain will gradually clear by night, and on Tuesday the rain may linger in the east during the morning but elsewhere it will become mostly dry.

According to the Met, there is a strong chance for much milder weather to develop later next week.

AA Roadwatch are warning motorists to be extra vigilant this Sunday and Monday, saying that drivers should expect it to be very wet this Bank Holiday.

“Unfortunately, given our experience of previous Bank Holidays, traffic collisions are almost inevitable this weekend,” said Arwen Foley, Editor of AA Roadwatch.

“We’ve reported on some pretty horrific crashes over the past few years and all we can do is hope that motorists heed our warnings to slow down and stay a safe distance from the vehicle in front, particularly with the weather conditions forecast.”

The AA Roadwatch team said that the M1 northbound was likely to be busier this weekend as the Irish Open continues at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle.

In Dublin, it warned that both Bloom and the Forbidden Fruit Festival were sure to bring a lot of extra traffic to the N3/ Navan Rd, the N4/ Lucan Rd and the area around Heuston Station in general.

There will also be major road closures on Monday in Cork City for the marathon and in Dublin for the Women’s Mini Marathon.